Melt percolation experiment

Today was a long day. Up at 5, Gifford and I left camp at 6 to spread artificially-induced melt over a small area to see if we can determine the effects of melt on the chemistry of the remaining snow- does melt percolation preferentially transport certain chemical species? After we spread the artificial melt, we needed to wait for a while for it to do its thing, so we came back to the camp for breakfast. Unfortunately while we were there, the winds started to come in from the North, meaning no travel on snowmachines. So we were stuck back in camp for a long time waiting for the winds to change. We busied ourselves helping the crew prepare for another core to be drilled for another investigator. When the winds finally shifted for us, we took off, but the sampling in the pit took a long time and we ended up arriving back in camp around midnight. Above, Gifford excavates the pit.